Bulls-Celtics Reaches Levels of Insanity

by Ryan Hudson

What do you say about a series that has left us all speechless?

I'm no basketball historian, and nor do I pretend to be, but this may just be the best series. Ever. And there are plentythatagree with that statement. Yes, it's "just" a first-round series, but as Celtics Blog points out, the loser still has to go home. There is no "loser's bracket" just because it's the first round.

What more can this series possibly provide that it hasn't already given us? Big shots, buzzer-beaters, seven overtimes (in six games), near fights, bloody faces, wild games, and exhausting drama -- the only thing missing is Kevin Garnett's Willis Reed moment (which the Celtics have ruled out, but...)

At this point, wouldn't anything less than overtime in Game 7 be, well, disappointing? You don't have to be a Celtics fan, or a Bulls fan, or even an NBA fan to appreciate the in the once-in-a-lifetime, tell-your-kids-about drama that is taking place in this series. The NBA would seemingly be better off just canceling the rest of the playoffs, and letting the Bulls and Celtics play until one of the teams just collapses, from exhaustion. Would anyone complain?

The NBA would be well suited to dump Atlanta, Miami and Orlando, and just hold on to the Celtics and Bulls for another month, best-of-15 series, winner to play Cleveland for the Eastern Conference championship. How do you get rid of one or the other when together they keep producing classics, when the athletic theater is almost too much to bear? It's become must-see TV, each episode more ruthless and more compelling than the previous.

So, after six games of some of the most compelling, nail biting, sweat-educing basketball anyone has ever seen, amazingly, it is still not over. Game 7, Saturday night, 8:00pm. No matter the outcome -- a Bulls win, a Celtics win, a tie after the 11th overtime -- with this series, we're all winning.